Walking with Jesus

Do you like to walk for exercise? Perhaps you walk in your neighborhood with your parents. Do you ever walk during winter, when it is very cold outdoors? Today our story is about a time when Jesus took a walk during winter.

(Read text.)

During winter the people celebrated the feast of dedication: the dedication of the Temple to its proper use as a place to worship God. It was a celebration of a war victory that allowed them to worship in the Temple again. According to tradition, a single bottle of sacred oil (by a miracle) lasted eight days. The feast later came to be known as Hanukkah, a feast of lights. They would light a candle on each day until all the candles were lit.

It was during this feast that Jesus went for a walk in the temple area in the place called Solomon’s portico. It was a 1000-foot long covered walkway within sight of the Temple. The people were waiting for a war hero to liberate them from the soldiers of Rome. They were looking for a savior, their Messiah, to give them their country back. The very portico he walked upon was once the place where King Solomon ruled Israel nearly 1000 years earlier.

Several men joined Jesus as he walked that day. I wonder if it may have been snowing, or so cold one could see their own breath. The men had a question for Jesus that was bothering them. They wanted to know if Jesus was the Christ, the “anointed One” of God, and they wanted a simple “yes” or “no” answer. Jesus told them plainly that he was and the works of healing and other miracles he had performed were proof that God had sent him.

Jesus explained that his followers understood the truth of what he told them. Jesus said he would give eternal life to those that believed in him. I would think that would have made them glad — imagine being able to live forever because you trust Jesus as your Savior! But his words made these men angry because Jesus made himself equal with God. When Jesus said he was the Son of God they did not believe him.

Today the claims that Jesus made then are still true. He is the Son of God. He is the Savior. We must choose if we will walk with Jesus or not. I hope you will choose a life of walking with Jesus. Let us dedicate ourselves to worship Jesus as our Savior and to follow him.

Let’s pray. Dear Lord Jesus, Help me to follow you and walk with you every day. Amen.